NATIONAL STATEMENT: UN WOMEN EXECUTIVE BOARD ANNUAL SESSION
Agenda Item 2: Annual Report of the Executive Director
18 June 2024
As delivered by H.E. Mr James Larsen, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Australia to the United Nations
Thank you very much, President, and I acknowledge the Executive Director and colleagues who have joined us today.
From an Australian perspective, UN Women is instrumental to the achievement of gender equality, the empowerment of women and girls, and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
Australia is pleased to provide core funding to UN Women to support its triple mandate, and we are glad that we continue to be a top ten donor.
We recognise the particular significance of this Session, as the Executive Board considers the Midterm Review of UN Women’s Strategic Plan (2022-2025).
Allow me to make three points in this regard.
First, amidst a global pushback on gender equality, Australia acknowledges UN Women’s efforts in advancing social norms change, women’s leadership and political participation, and women’s economic empowerment.
These are key priorities for Australia.
We encourage UN Women to further enhance its organisational investment and inter-agency collaboration to ‘leave no one behind’.
This includes ensuring better outcomes for Indigenous Peoples, women and girls with disabilities, and LGBTQIA+ persons, across the 2030 Agenda.
UN Women’s programming must be informed by the rebalancing of unequal power dynamics and pushing forward on women’s and girls’ rights.
We note that the Midterm Review calls for greater investment by UN Women and inter-agency collaboration in this area, and we wholeheartedly support this.
Second, Australia remains deeply concerned by the impact of humanitarian crises, disasters and conflict on women and girls.
As outlined in the report, UN-Women’s coordination mandate can help advance system-wide efforts to meet the needs of women and girls in crises, particularly through its membership of the Inter-Agency Standing Committee.
We encourage UN-Women to further hone its unique value-add in the UN System’s humanitarian response, including by delivering policy support for operational agencies.
Third, Australia strongly supports the continuation and strengthening of UN Women’s investments in the Pacific.
This includes, for example, strengthening the resilience of women and girls to disasters, reducing discrimination faced by women with disabilities, and improving support for survivors of violence in the region.
We welcome UN Women’s efforts to enhance the visibility of resource contributions and key results, including through the Transparency Portal.
President,
Our partnership with UN Women is of great importance to Australia.
Let me reiterate Australia’s support to UN Women’s critical work around the world.
Thank you.